


Camp Kindness

by joshdunistherealest



Category: Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Accidental Cuddling, Alternate Universe - Summer Camp, Anger, Anxiety, Blood and Injury, Borderline Personality Disorder, Bruises, Coming of Age, Enemies to Lovers, Fighting, First Kiss, Fist Fights, Fluff and Angst, Frustration, Humor, Kinda, Lots and lots of venting, M/M, Panic Attacks, Slow Burn, They start off as kids in the first couple chapters, Underage Drinking, Underage Sex, Violence, angry crying, lots of blood
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-04
Updated: 2017-04-17
Packaged: 2018-10-14 22:04:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,506
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10545094
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/joshdunistherealest/pseuds/joshdunistherealest
Summary: "Ty, I dare you to go push Dun in the lake! "





	1. I hate you

"Tyler!" Mark whisper shouted to the fluffy haired boy, adjacent from him at his spot at the campfire.

They were nine at this time, bashful smiles aglow with curiosity only they could understand. 

"Ty, I dare you to go push Dun in the lake!" Mark giggles mischievously, chomping down on a melty smore. He ends up getting marshmallow all over his nose, and Tyler cringes. 

"Uhm, I don't know." Tyler's eyes glance through the darkness to a moonlit bench beside the pond. A small, shy boy was curled up with his legs to his chest, biting his stubby nails. 

Josh Dun. If you didn't know him for long enough, you'd think he was deaf and mute. 

Tyler never liked him all that much. He always got the attention. 

"Don't be a pussycat!" Mark huffed. He took to spurring Tyler on by nudging his little tummy with the stick he preciously ate his marshmallow off of. 

"That's a bad word. " Tyler gasped, slapping at the stick. 

"Is not! " Mark shouts, standing up from his spot on a log. 

"Is too! " The scrawnier boy echos, sticking his tongue out. 

"Just go! " Mark gives a nudge at his friend's back.  

Tyler gulps, looking back for a second. His mind was racing. Fear crawled up his back in the form of small tendrils, hunting him at every corner. 

Despite himself, he advances quickly towards the bench by the lake. The closer he gets, the more he can really see Josh in the dimmed light. 

He had the softest features Tyler  thinks he'd ever seen, almost feminine. Small, chubby hands with fingers tucked comfortably in his teeth to bite at the nails. Big, brown wide eyes. Almost auburn, like the firewood that made the crackly sounds that he liked so much.

"Hi Josh." Tyler shyly sways, hands wringing the hem of his red t-shirt. " 'M Tyler."

Josh looks up for a moment, furrows his eyebrows in thought, and then goes back to biting his fingers.

Tyler huffs, frustrated and offended that Josh wouldn't pay attention to him. So, he decides to make Josh pay attention to him. 

The lanky boy reaches out and yanks on Josh's curly hair. He notes it feels like silk, but he can't focus on that for too long. 

Josh let's out a yelp, tears already gathering at his eyes. "Hey! " he squeaks, rubbing his temple. 

"I didn't even pull that hard. " Tyler argues, shoving at Josh to egg him on. "You big baby."

"M'not a baby! " Josh shouts, well, as loud as he can under his breath.  He looks away as he stands up and shoves Tyler, cheeks heating up with childish anger. 

Tyler grumbles and pushes Josh over, only to be pulled down into an all out fistfight. 

Josh is crying, Tyler notices, but he's still punching. He delivers a swift blow to the other boys jaw, and eventually Josh's sobs attract the attention of the older camp counselors. 

The boys are bloody and swollen by the time the adults reach them. But it's too late.

Josh and Tyler knock each other into the lake, both wrestling to stay on the surface. 

Josh is panicking and screaming his little heart out. His hands are more desperate than angry now, reaching for Tyler for leverage. 

In a fit of rage, Tyler kicks him in the stomach. 

A strong pair of hands swoops both of them out of the water in opposite directions. They're both covered in fluffy beach towels, and held around the waist so they don't lunge at each other.

Josh was sobbing something unintelligible, wrestling with the adult holding him ferociously.

"I hate you! I hate you!" 


	2. Storm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not the only chapter im posting today, but the smallest.   
> Hope you all enjoy! Sorry this one is so short!

The following year, Josh and Tyler are ten.

To Tyler's grave dismay, Mark was not able to make it to camp this year. He claimed to be having family problems, but Tyler really didn't understand what that meant.

To Josh, family issues meant someone was going away for a really long time. At least that's what happened the last time he had 'family issues'. 

Four days in, Josh had already gotten a face full of the dirt under Tyler's heels. His face showed it. 

But something ached inside both boys deeply. They didn't want to hurt each other. They were just expected to. So they hardened their hearts, and waddled out of each fight like dogs with their tails between their legs.

One night, the balmy skies were producing dark, thunderous clouds on the horizon. The boys cabin shook with each lightning strike. 

Everyone's heads were resting calmly on their pillows, as if they had a veil of sleep hiding them from the chaos. 

Everyone except one. 

Josh pulls his blanket up to his chin, chest heaving with pants. His heart raced. With every lightning strike he could feel his rib cage almost rattle with anxiety. 

Crying softly, he tries to absolutely disappear under his covers. He didn't want to risk anyone hearing him. He couldn't be made fun of again. 

 He's much too preoccupied with stifling his soft voice in the bear-printed material, that he doesn't notice someone crawl into bed with him. 

"Shhhh." A small voice alike his own whispers. "S'just a storm." 

Josh freezes, his heart racing. "Who are you?"

"It's Tyler, you butthole. Y'kept me up." The voice, Tyler, sounded exasperated and crackly. Two lanky arms wrapped themselves around Josh's waist like a vice. 

This time, the warmth in his stomach wasn't from Tyler kicking him.

It felt safe. 

Josh was still thoroughly confused. After all, this was the child that almost drowned him. Now his arms are around his waist protectively. 

He stiffens, drawing his legs up towards his torso under his blanket. Tyler's legs follow almost rhythmically, framing the other boy's legs perfectly. 

A tiny hand comes up, scratching at the nape of Josh's neck. 

"Hey, quit it." Josh snaps, turning around to face Tyler for the first time that night. His brown eyes seemed to cast a warm glow, twinkling with a light brighter than the pulsating storm outside. 

"Just sleep. " Tyler's eyes darted around Josh's features. All of a sudden, he lit up with a bubbly smile, giggling under his breath. 

"What's so funny? " The curly haired boy seems offended for a second,  furrowing strong brows. 

"You gots freckles Jishwa." Tyler coos. 

_"You look like the stars."_


	3. Gross

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ty and Josh are like, present day au age here. So like, sixteen from now on.  
> I'll offer more insight and backstory as the story goes on tho  
> Go bother me @ dunangelic.tumblr.com

"Stop fucking kicking me. " Josh huffs, nudging Tyler back with his foot under the outside craft table. 

"I'm not touching you. " Tyler retorts, puffing his chest up confidently. "Wouldn't wanna touch you anyway. You practically radiate gay."

"So what if I am? " Josh stands up slightly, hands knocking purple glitter on the ground. 

"That's gross. " 

All at once, the boys lunge  across the table at eachother, fists grabbing hair and shirts. They struggle for a moment.

Eventually, they end up on the moss covered ground. Josh straddles Tyler's hips and knocks him upside the jaw just like when they were kids. When he's sure he's stunned him, he twists his wrist around. 

"Ouch-OW! Knock it off! " Tyler grunts, kneeing Josh in his hip, but the other teen doesn't budge.

"Say you're sorry. " Josh twists harder, causing Tyler to yelp like a wounded dog. 

"Fuck you. "

"Funny, not even my gay ass self would fuck you. " Josh closes in his face, inches away. "Because you'd like that. "

Tyler feigns disgust despite his blushing face, biting Josh hard on the arm. 

They break for a moment after Josh shoves Tyler's head into the dirt. Their backs are pressed up against adjacent trees, panting with bloody noses. 

A day prior, Tyler had bitten a dark mark into Josh's shoulder, and Josh cracked his leg off the pavement. 

"Eat a dick, Joseph. "

"That's your thing, Dun. " Tyler wipes the blood from his lip, licking over the wound. He'd gotten used to the coppery taste over time, and it was starting to become grounding.

For a moment, the silence was deafening. The only sound around them were the woodpeckers tip-tip-tapping away at the trees, and the lake.

The lake. 

Josh gulps and wipes sweat from his forehead. Something about fighting always made him feel queasy, but with his eyes locked on that stagnant water, it made it all the more worse. 

He doesn't realize Tyler is gone until he looks at the spot beside him and finds nothing but a cold air draft. 

Sighing, Josh leans his head up to the dull blue sky. 

* * *

 

Later in the mess hall, they're serving macaroni and cheese. Josh doesn't even eat his food, just swirls it around his plate. 

"Do you ever actually eat anything? " Josh's  best friend of two years, Brendon Urie, sits down across from him. "Don't tell me you're developing a complex from lover boy over there royally kicking your ass every day. "

He takes a fork and motions to Tyler,  sitting with a pretty blonde girl and smiling his typical arrogant smile. 

"Dude, shut up. That's ridiculous. " Josh stops playing with his food and actually brings it to his mouth. When he takes a bite, he cringes at how cold it managed to get. "I could care less about him. "

"Just sayin'. If you develop some kind of odd Stockholm syndrome, don't come crying to me. " Brendon purrs, his tone condescending.

"Gross. " Josh scratches at a mosquito bite on his knee idly, trying to keep himself from looking at Tyler again. "Besides, he doesn't kick my ass everyday. I have you know I've won at least three fights this week. "

"What about the other four?" Brendon raises an eyebrow, propping his chin up on his hand and reclining against the table. 

Josh flips him off quickly, eyeing the room for any stray camp counselors before flicking a spoonful of mac n cheese towards him. 

Brendon ducks the blow, laughing and putting his hands up in defense. 

"Alright, alright. "

* * *

The front door of the boy's cabin swings closed, following all of Josh's yearly roommates. It's almost weird seeing them sometimes, because he'd seen all of them grow up into being awkward teenagers just like him. 

Including Tyler, who was currently curled up in his bunk, knees curled to his chest with his head in a book.

It was just them in the cabin now. The silence was mucky and damp again. 

Josh taps his pencil rhythmically against the edge of his notebook. 

Tyler looks up for a minute, then back down. 

Before Josh can even open his mouth, Tyler shuts his book and just stares at him. 

"What do you want? " He says softly, picking at the rubber band around his wrist. 

"I don't want anything." Josh rushes out, before speaking up again. "Actually, can we talk?"

Tyler rolls his eyes and scoffs, shutting off his bedside lamp. "Goodnight Josh. "

Josh sighs, following suit and laying down against the soft cotton bedsheets covering his stiff bunk. 

He waits until Tyler falls asleep and his breathing slows to whisper. 

"Goodnight Tyler. "

 


	4. Adverse

 A slight feeling of strain still sat in the pit of Josh's stomach. Every time he thought about Tyler, sleeping inches away from him in his own bed, it would get tighter. He buried his face deeper in his bed sheets, a heavy weight on his eyelids. Tears threatened to fall like a desperate plea to feel _something, anything._  
  
His own body was waging war on him.   
  
Josh recalls the time Tyler crawled into his bed to comfort him, but that memory quickly clouds over with _pain_. The pain that ached and made him scream, all caused by Tyler.  
  
Tyler.   
  
_Tighter._  
  
"Fucking stop." He groans into his pillow, curling in on himself in the fetal position against his mattress.  
  
A small nightlight clicks on a few beds away from him, and someone is rustling in their sheets. Quickly, Josh stuffs his fist in his mouth and clenches his eyes shut to hide his cries.   
  
"Josh?" A familiar voice calls. He recognizes the high, lilting tone as Tyler. But instead of his typical instigating voice, it seemed to be filled with worry. A different person, almost.  
  
Gathering the courage to speak, Josh grumbles up a response without thinking. "I'm not awake."  
  
Tyler almost cackles, but keeps his volume low. There were three other boys sleeping in their cabin, and he wasn't about to get his ass jumped by exhausted, muscular teenage boys at the moment. "Are you fucking dumb? You spoke, that means you're awake."  
  
"Sleeptalking is a thing."  
  
"Dude-Just..." Tyler groans. "Just come over here for a bit. I don't want to wake anyone else."   
  
"Last time I slept next to you, you bit my face." Josh whines, sitting up and rubbing his eyes.  
  
"Cooperate and I won't."   
  
Pulling himself from a post-sleep and depressive haze, Josh gathers his Star Wars sheets around his shoulders and makes his way to Tyler's bed. The other boy's face was easy to make out with the soft ivory pink glow of the night light. It gave Tyler almost a gentle look. His face seemed soft, and his lips even softer.  
  
_Tight, tight, tight._  
  
"What's eating at you, little guy?" Tyler rolls over to face Josh, eyes observing him carefully.  
  
"What isn't." Josh states blankly, brushing his knee up against Tyler's middle, and grazing a bruise he'd gotten from one of their many fights. Tyler doesn't seem to mind though, he just twitches and moves backward.  
  
"Stop being so stubborn," Tyler rolls his eyes. Those pretty, dewy brown eyes. "It's annoying."  
  
Josh immediately clicks into fight mode, shoving a little at Tyler's chest. "You're annoying!"  
  
"Shhh!!" Tyler's pupils blow wide in fear, and he clasps a hand over Josh's mouth, pulling him flush against his body. "Do you want to get in trouble for sharing beds? Because if I remember right, they made a rule against it." Tyler retracts his hand only when the curly haired teen licks across it to gross him out, wiping it on Josh's Tears for Fears shirt.  
  
Josh giggles breathily, making Tyler's heart race a little. If you'd ask him, he'd say it was simply high blood pressure, even though the kid was probably the healthiest person on earth.  
  
Both boys catch eachother's gazes and fluster. They cannot seem to break eye contact despite their embarassment.  
  
All at once, the air in the dusty, humid, old cabin seems to stand still. Tyler's chapstick covered lips part to speak, and he feels like he's drowning.  


"Have you ever kissed a boy, Josh?" Tyler asks, eyes lingering on Josh's mouth too long for comfort. 

"Can't say I have. " Josh croaks. The air feels dry to him, contrary to the ocean filling Tyler's lungs. He is the desert, and Tyler is the approaching rainstorm. 

Tyler closes his eyes, sighs, then buries his face in Josh's shoulder. "We don't talk about this in the morning, you hear me?"

"Noted." Josh sighs.

 

He wishes he had the courage to kiss the soul out of Tyler. Show him what he's made of. 

Instead, he rolls over with his heart on his sleeve, and tries to ignore the way it's beating too fast. 


End file.
